Reds first baseman Joey Votto, prior to Friday's game, had gone 9-for-24 with a home run and two RBI since taking an off day on June 14.

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Joey Votto is not sure if it was the off day that got him turned around at the plate or not.

"I don't know," he said. "I can't imagine I was going to continue to hit the way I was at the time. I was going to turn the corner at some point. Whether or not that correlated with the day off, I don't know."

Votto was out of the lineup for the first time on June 14. He went 0-for-3 the next game, then took off. He went 9-for-21 with a home run and two RBI over the next five games leading into Friday night. ...